The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us: Part 1
John 1:14-18
February 6, 2022
Abraham Hong
Sermon Script
Take a moment right now and look one of your hands. Think about the skin. Think about all the muscles and bones underneath. Think all the strands of nerves and vessels of blood inside. Isn’t it amazing? It is your body. It is your human nature. And it is you. If you really stop and think about it, this is amazing.
But if this is amazing to you, then the opening words of today’s passage ought to be really, really amazing.
The Word became flesh. Jesus became flesh. This is so amazing because Jesus was God. He was infinite in his being. He was invisible and without body. He was God. But then one day, Jesus became flesh. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He took on a body. He took on human nature. Jesus was still truly God, truly divine in who he was. But Jesus was also truly man, truly human in who he was. And so Jesus has hands. Think about his hands. Think about all of the skin and muscles and bones and strands of nerves and vessels of blood of his body. Isn’t it amazing? Jesus has a body. Jesus has a human nature. And that is who Jesus is now. This is something that we cannot fully understand. But this is absolutely true. The Word became flesh.
But this brings us to an important question. Why? Why did the Word become flesh? The answer is such a good answer. The Word became flesh so that you would be saved from sin and death. Jesus took on human nature because you are a human being. And he saves you by substituting himself for you. He takes your place. And he died for you. He died for you so that your sins would be paid for with his life.
This is grace. We deserve to die for our sins. But instead Jesus died for our sins. We deserved something terrible. But instead we got something wonderful. That is grace. Imagine this crazy story. Imagine that you’re in a car and you’re driving it and your best friend is next to you in the passenger seat. Imagine that you get into a terrible car accident. Imagine that it’s your fault. And imagine that your best friend dies in the accident. You deserve very bad things to happen to you. Why? Because what you did was wrong. But imagine that your best friend has an older brother. Imagine that he is a perfect person. Imagine him forgiving you. And imagine him taking your place as your substitute. So instead of you getting what you deserve, he gets what you deserve. He did not have to do that. But he chose to do that. He chose to forgive you and pay for your wrong with his own life. That is grace.
And that is same as the grace of what Jesus did for you. Remember the Ten Commandments that we read earlier today? That is the law of God that was given to us through Moses. That law is what God wants and requires of us. His law is good and perfect. And we are supposed to obey his law. But we do not fully obey his law. Instead, we sin against God. Our sin is terrible. And it is all our fault. Because of our sin, we deserve to die. But Jesus came and he has forgiven you. He has taken your place as your substitute. Instead of you getting what you deserve, he gets what you deserve. Jesus is God. And he did all of this because he loves you. He is gracious toward you. And so through his hands went in the nails of the cross. Out of his hands came his blood. And he died for your sin. This is why the Word became flesh. Jesus is therefore full of grace. Grace upon grace.
Dear Highland, let us worship Jesus. For the rest of our lives, let us learn everything about him and let us live for him and let us tell other people about him. About how he beame flesh. About how he showed us grace. This is what church is all about. It’s all about Jesus.
Dear Highland, let us be full of grace ourselves. If we have received grace from Jesus, then let us be gracious toward one another. Let us forgive others and love others just as our Lord and Savior Jesus forgives us and loves us.
And finally, dear Highland, let us look forward to the future when we will see Jesus face to face. When Jesus returns, you will see him in his flesh. You will be able to see and touch his hands. It is going to be amazing. Believe that this time is coming soon. Get excited. And get ready.
Soli Deo Gloria